Fuel-consumption indicator for automobiles



Nov. 6, 1928,!

A C. J. GARDEEN FUEL CONSUMPTION INDICATOR FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Jan.51, 1925 l IN vE/v Tof?. 6fm/ cI G/YRDEEN.

Patented Nov. 6, 1928.

UNITED STATES CARL J. GARDEEN, F ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

FUEL-CONSUMPTION INDICATOR FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Application led January 31, 1925. Serial No. 6,122.

This invention relates to an indicating instrument adapted to be used ona vehicle having propelling means which consumes fuel, and particularlyto such an instrument which indicates the relation between the distancetraveled and the amount of fuel consumed. TWhile the invention may beapplied to various vehicles, it is more particularly7 designed for useon the modern automobile 'and while the device may be marked in variousways to indicate the relation between the distance traveled and theamount of fuel consumed, the device is illustrated herein as indicatingthe number` of miles the vehicle travels per unit of fuel, such as thenumber of miles per gallon of gasoline used.

It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide a simple andeticient instrument of compact form which can conveniently be located onthe instrument board and which will indicate the number of miles thatthe vehicle travels per unit of fuel used.

It is another object of the invention to provide such 'a deviceas setforth in the preceding` paragraph, having means operated in a directratio to the distance the vehicle travels and other means cooperatingtherewith controlling an indicator which is operated and positioned atintervals, according to the amount of fuel consumed. i'

Itis a further object of the invention to provide an instrument whichwill indicate the relationbetween the distance traveled and the amountof fuel consumed comprising means driven proportionately to the distancetraveled by the vehicle, a member which is traversed from an initialposition and returned to said position at intervals, another membercontrolling an indicator which is positioned at intervals by said firstmentioned member, according to the traverse thereof prior to the returnof said lirst mentioned member to its initial position. the intervalsbeing determined by a member operated by a fuel measuring means on saidvehicle.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a device such as setforth in the preceding paragraphs by simple and efficient mechamsmcompactly assembled and adapted to opcrate accurately.

These and other objects and advantages of thev invention will more fullyappear from the following description made in connect-ion with theaccompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to thesame parts throughout the different views, and in which- Fig. 1 is aview in front elevation of the device having the cover plate removed; nv

F 1g. 2 is a top plan view of the device with certain portions brokenawa-y; and others shown in horizontal section;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the device showing the front coverplate, said cover and the enclosing casing being shown in section, someof the parts being broken away and some parts shown in horizontalsection;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. l, asindicated by the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of the disk member used;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a part of the mechanism;

Fig. is a fragmentary view of a portion of the mechanism shown on anenlarged scale;

Fig. 8 is a partial view in vertical section takenon the line 8 8 ofFig. 3; and

Fig. 9 is a front view of the cover plate.

Referring to the drawings, the device comprises a frame consisting of aback plate 10 from which extend spaced plates or partitions l0at and10". The plate 10 has spaced bearings 10c and 10d thereon in which isjournaled a shaft 11. Said shaft projects at the outer side of bearingl0C and has secured thereto one portion 12 of a clutch having a reducedportion ati one end having therein a slot 12a. The clutch 12 is of acommon, well known form and adapted to receive thereon another clutchmember having a tongue engaging in the slot 12a so that when said lattermember is revolved the clutch 12 and shaft 1l will be revolved. Theclutch 12 is adapted to be connected to a moving member of the vehicle,such as the wheel, so that it will be driven proportionately to thedistance traveled by the vehicle or so that it will be driven in directratio to the dist-ance traveled by the vehicle. In one practicalembodiment of the invention, as at present used, the member 12 isconnected by a iiexible shaft tothe driving shaft of the speedometer onthe automobile. It is contemplated to have the instrument constructed inconnection witli` the speedometer so that the speedometer driving shaftand the shaft 11 will be driven by the same means or mechanism. It isthought that it will be unnecessary for the purpose of this invention toillustrate the specific driving connection for the clutch 12 and shaft11.

i rihe shaft 11 has secured thereon adjacent the bearing 10d aneccentric 13. Said eccentric is disposed between the arms 14a of a forklever 14, which lever is intermediately mounted beneath the plate orpartition 10a, as shown in Fig. 6, portions of said lever being shown inFig 2. Slt ,will be seen that the arms 14a extend downwardly atsubstantially a right angle tothe main body of lever 14, which bodyisshown of fiat formation tapering toward the end opposite the arms 14a.At said latter end said lever is pivoted between the upper bifurcatedend of a pawl 15, which pawl 'is pivoted on an axis parallel to the axisof lever 14 and extends forwardlysubstantially horizontally and isadapted to engage teeth 16a on a ratchet disk 16. The pawl 15 normallyis urged into engagement with disk 16 by the tensile spring 15a securedthereto and secured at its other end to a lever 14. The ratchet disk 16is journaled on a shaft 17El secured at its opposite ends in the plates10n and 10b, as shown in Figs. '1, 2 and 4.` The disk 16v has a sleeveprojecting upwardly therefrom to which is secured one end of a torsionspiral spring 17 the other end of said spring being secured to a pin orrod 18 secured in plate 10a. The spring 17 is under some tension andnormally tends-to revolve the disk 16 so that a stop pin 19 thereonengages a stop vlug 10e projecting downwardly from plate 10a. The teeth16a on ratchet disk 16 are also engaged by a stop pawl 2O having spacedprojecting lugs 2()a between which the forward end of pawl member 15 isdisposed and reciprocates. Thepawl 20 is formed as a bell crank leverswinging about a pivot 21 secured in the disk 10a. rlhe pawl 20 has anarm 20b adapted to be contacted by a cam member on'shaft 11 to be laterdescribed. Mounted on the shaft 17 adjacent the disk 16 and separatedtherefrom by a thin washer is a ratchet disk 22 illustrated as of thesame diameter as disk 16, the teeth of which are engaged by a stop orretaining pawl 23 also formed as a bell crank lever and mounted on apivot member 24 secured in plate 10a, one arm of which pawl 23 extendsinwardly at substantially the same angle as the arm 2()b and is adaptedto be engaged by a cam member mounted on shaft 11 which will also belater described. The stop pawls 20 and 23 are urged into engagingposition with their respective ratchets by aspring 25 connected to saidpawls at its opposite ends. The disk 22 has a downwardly projectingsleeve to whichis secured one end of a spiral torsion spring 26, theother end of the said spring being secured to a pin 27 upstanding fromthe plate 10b and secured therein. The disk 22 also has secured A inrigid relation thereto as by the collar 28, an indicating member 29illustrated of cylindrical form, said indicating member thus rotatingwith the' disk 22. While the indicating member may `the indicator isvisible.

Lacasse y be inscribed in various ways, in the embodiment of theinvention illustrated, it is shown as graduated and having-thereonnumerals which are arranged to represent the number of miles the vehicletravels per unit of fuel consumed.- The said indicator co-'operates witha pointer'member 30 on the outer side of the cover plate 31 which coverplate has a central opening 31a therein through which The disk 22 isformed with acircular slot22a therein in the side thereof adjacent thedisk V16. The disk 16 also has a pin 19 projecting at oneside thereofand disposed in the slot 22a. It will also be seen in Figs. 2 to 5 thatthe disk 16 has a portion of its periphery smooth or unpro-v vided withteeth.

Disposed on the shaft 11 is a sleeve 32 having at one end 'a disk 32aprovided with teeth and forming a half clutch. The disk 32:L is adaptedto co-op'erate with a similar-half clutch disk 33 secured to the shaft11 and rotating continuously therewith. The sleeve 32 is urged intoposition to engage the disks 32a and 33 by plate spring 34 secured toplate 10. The sleeve 32 is, however, held in position with disks 32a'and 33 disengaged by a stop member 35 which acts upon a cam memL ber 32at one end of sleeve 32. The sleeve 32 also has cam projections 32c and32d ex- :tending therefrom .and spaced slightly circumferentially, whichare adapted to con? tact and operate, respectively, the cam arms 2()banda similar arm on pawl lever 23. The stop member 35 is pivoted to theplate 10b and has a projection pivotally engaged by one end of a plungerrod 36, which plunger rod extends forwardly and terminates adjacentalever 37 by which it is operated. The member 35 also has a projection35a thereon adapted to engage plate 10b as a stop when the stop member35 is in its inward position relative to cam 32h. The stop 35 also hasan arm 35b extending from one side thereof connected to a tensile coiledspring 35c which has its other end secured to the member 38. Said lever37 is pivoted at one end between the plate 10b and an offset lug orplate 38 secured thereto. The lever 37 has a lug 39 projecting from oneside thereof having a shortright-angled shoulder or portion thereonwhich, when the lever is moved rearwardly is adapted to contact the topof plunger rod 36. The lever Vsnugly fitting in a cylinder 42 extendingforwardly from plate 10. Whilethe piston 41 vmay be made invarious Ways,in the embodiment of the invention illustrated, it isshown as comprisinga core 41?a having projecting flanges or heads at its ends, which core,preferably, is made of suitable metal.l A sleeve Y 41b surrounds thecore and is disposed between said anges or ends', which sleeve is laclll

preferably made of material having a low factor of expansion and;contraction, such as graphite. Preferably, a screw 42a is disposed inthe wall of the cylinder 42 acting as a stop limiting the upwardmovement of piston 41. The bottom of cylinder 42 is connected bysuitable conduit 43 and passage 44 to a fuel measuring device. Inpractice, on an automobile, the conduit 43 is connected to the vacuumchamber of the standard and well known gasoline vacuum feed device, suchas the Stewart vacuum feed. It willbe understood that said conduitycould be connected to any fuel feeding device having a vacuum formedtherein at intervals through which the fuel passes in regulated ormeasured amounts. The .Stewart vacuum feed mechanism is so well knownthat it is thought it will be unnecessary to illustrate the same. Insuch a mechanism, gasoline is drawn into a receptacle by the suctionproduced by the pistons' of the internal combustion engine commonly usedin automobiles. When a certain amount of gasoline has been drawn intothe receptacle the ioat is operated to cut E the suction and an airvalve is opened which releases the gasoline to flow out of saidreceptacle. The suction is thus intermittently applied to the saidreceptacle and measured amounts of gasoline are drawn thereinto atintervals. Preferably, theconduit 43 is, as stated, connected to thevacuum chamber of this gasoline feed mechanism. The lever 37 also has adisk 37a secured to its front side, which disk is adapted, when in itsforward position, to be disposed in front of an opening 31a in the frontcover plate 31. The lever 37 is urged to its forward position or to itspositionwith the piston toward the open end of the cylinder by means ofthe coiled tension spring 48 surrounding the hub portion of lever `37concentric with its pivot and having one end engaging a pin on leverv 37and its other end engaging a pin projecting from plate b. The frame orcasing of the device comprising the basel() preferably is surrounded bya. cylindrical casing 45 which is, in turn, embraced by the front plateor m'ember 46 adapted to be secured to the top surface of an instrumentboard. The transparent plate or lens 47 is adapted to be held in placein front f the plate 31 by the member 46.

ln operation, the clutch 12 will, as stated, be connecte-d to aspeedometer shaft or to some mechanism of thevehicle, such as a wheel sothat it will be driven in direct ratio to the traverse of t-he vehicleand the conduit 43 will be connected to the vacuum chamber in thegasoline vacuum feed mechanism. The disk 16 ,will be turned so that thepin 19 is against stop 10e and disk 22 will be turned b its spring 26 sothat one end of the slot 22a contacts pin 19 and the indicator 29 willbe positioned with the zero thereon alined with the pointer 30. As thevehicle travels, shaft 11 will be driven and lever 14 oscillated. Thiswill reciprocate pawl and disk 16 will be rotated against the tension ofspring 17 by said pawl, said disk being prevented from return movementby the holding pawl 20. As disk 16 is thus rotated or traversed, disk 22will be moved against t-he tension of spring 26 and will be preventedfrom return movement by the pawl 23. The stop will hold the sleeve 32with the clutch disk 32a disengaged so that the sleeve will not bedriven. During this described movement of the parts, the gasoline in thevacuum feed mechanism is being used and when a new charge of gasoline isto be drawn thereinto by the suction from the engine, the suction or lowpressure will extend into the rear or closed end of the cylinder 42.This will cause the piston 4l to be moved toward the closed end of thecylinder by t-he pressure of air 011 its outer side. rl`his piston 4lthus moves lever 37 which will be drawn rearwardly about its pivot andthe shoulder on the member 39 will contact the free end of plunger 36 sothat said plunger will be pushed rearwardly and, as will be seen fromFig. 8, stop 35 will be drawn-out of alinement with cam 32h. Spring 34then moves sleeve 32 lengthwise of shaft 11 and clutch disks 32a and 33are engaged and sleeve 32 begins to revolve. As lever 37 continues itsrearward movement and passes the point where its center line is at rightangles to the center of cylinder 42, the rear end of projection 39 willbegin to swing inwardly a-.d will push the free end of plunger 36 out ofengagement with the shoulder thereon. Plunger 36 is thus freed andspring 35c moves plunger 36 forwardly and at the same time swings stop35 inwardly toward sleeve 32. The inner end of sto-p 35 will strike theouter side of cam 32b but will move across the face of said cam as soonas the narrow part of the cam revolves into alinement with stop 35. Thesleeve 32 continues to revolve and cam 32C Strikes one arm of pawl 23and forces said pawl out of engagement with ratchet disk 22. This diskis then free to be rotated reversely or returned toward its initialposition by spring 26. However, as the end of slot 22a is already inengagement with pin 19, it cannot, in the operation so far described,move backward. Cam projection 32c soon passes the arm of pa-wl 23 andsaid pawl again engages ratchet disk 22 so that said disk and indicator29 are held in the position to which they have been moved by nate-hetdisk 16. As soon as ratchet disk 22 is thus re-engaged by pawl 23, camprojection 32d will engage arm 20b of pawl 20. This will disengage pawl20 from Y disk 16 and will also disengage pawl 15 therefrom as thelatter will be pushed out with pawl 20. Disk 16 is now free and isquickly turned back to its initial position with pin 19 lUO xseo

against lstop a,.by spring v17.` Shaft 11,

i again applied to the vacuum feed mechanism when piston 41 will beagain operated and stop 35 againwithdrawn and the sleeve; 32again/driven'by shaft 11. The sleeve 32 will then, by its cam 32, againrelease pawl 23 so that disk 22 is again freed to 'be turned backward byits spring 26. If disk 16' has been moved a' smaller distance `thanpreviously, disk 22 will return until the end of groove 22a engages pinA19. If disk 16 has been moved a greater distance than before, it willmove disk 22 and the indicator 29 still farther, said indicator movingto the left, as seen in Fig. 1. The disk 22 and indicator 29 will, ifdisk 16 has moved a greater or lesser distance than formerly, be held intheir new position by paWl 23. Pawls and 2G wilnow again be disengagedbycam 32d and disk 16 will again be returned to its initial position byits spring 17. lft will thus be seen that each time that the measuredsupply of gasoline or fuel passesthrough the vacuum feed mechanism thedisks 16and 22 Will be released and the disk 22 and indicator 29 will bepositioned in accordance with the distance moved by the disk 16. Thereading on the indicator or the numerals on the indicator alining withpointer will thus show the miles made by the vehicle vper unit of fuel.In practice, the indicator is calibrated so that the numerals YIindicate miles made per gallon of fuel. The

of piston 41 occurs quite frequentoperat}1(n ly int e o'dinaryautomobile, said piston being oper ed once in about every half mile. Thereading on the indicator, therefore, at the successive positions thereofwill show the consumptionof fliel taking place at the rate of miles madeper gallon of fuel. The flat places or thevplaces without teeth areprovided on the disk 16 so that .in case the disk would be excessivelymoved as when the automobile might be coasting, down a long. hill athigh Y. speed, the mechanism'will not be injured on account of the disknot being released. When the pawls lreach the flat portion of the diskl'the diskwill cease to be driven. This also ,spring 48 but it shouldalsov be noted that plunger 36 and stop 35- are repositioned by spring35c so that sleeve 32 can make only one revolution and the cams 32'1land 32c Will thus lonly operate once With every operation of accusespiston 41. The disk 37a will intermittently be positioned in front ofopening 31a and willmove into plain sight eve-ry time that piston 41 isreciprocated. If it is desired to make a` record of the readings of theindicator this can be done every time said disk appears close to saidopening 31a.

-From the above description it is seen that applicant has provided avery simple and efticient mechanism for' indicating the relation betweenthe distance traveled and the amount of fuel consumed. The instrumentindicates at short intervals the miles per gallon being made and thereading is changed or corrected at every new charge of fuel takenthrough the fuel measuring device, such as the vacuum gasoline feedmechanism. The device will be mounted on the usual instrument board ofthe vehicle and the same can convenientlyJ be combined with the usualspeedometer which is customarily on the instrument board. The device haslbeen in use for quite a long perioden a standard automobile using thestandard Stewart vacuum fee-d for the fuel land the device has provenvery successful and eiicient. The vacuum feed mechanism which comprisesa oat which is adapted to operate valves when in its differentpositions, has been found to be quite accurate for measuring the fuelused and in its operation of the device of the present invention. Thedevice is small, compact and the mechanism thereof is quite simple. A Itwill, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in theform, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts Withoutdeparting from the scope of applicants invention which, generallystated, consists in the novel part-s and combinations of parts disclosedand dened in the appended claims.

What is claimed is: y

1. An indicating device for showing the relation-between the distancetraveled by a vehicle and the fuel used for driving said vehicle havingin combination, means includlul',

llo

ing pawl and ratchet mechanism moved an amount proportional to thedistance the vehicle travels, resilient means for retracting said means,indicating means co-operating therewith, and means including a clutchand cam-operated tripping means operated by a fuel measuring device forcontrolling the operation of said first mentioned means.

2. An indicating 'device for showing the relation between the distancetraveled by a vehicle and the fuel used for driving said llhvehicle'having in combination, a revoluble A `meansoperated in directratio to the travelv of said `vehicle, a member moved by said means, asecond member adapted to be positioned at intervals according to thedistance moved by said first mentioned member. an indicator controlledby said second member, and means adapted to be operated by a fuel liti)lposition, an indicating means measuring device on the vehicle andincluding a rotatable tripping means and a cam and spring-operatedclutch for controlling said se'cond member and determining saidintervals.

3. An indicating device for showing the' relation between the distancetraveled byavehicle and the fuel used for drivingsaid vehicle having incombination, means ydriven proportionately to the travel of the vehicle,a member moved at intervals from an initial position and beingreleasable to returnpto. initial position, means urging said member toinitial position when released, a member mov- .able by and adapted to bepositioned at intervals by said first mentioned member and beingreleasable to move forward an initial controlled by said last` mentionedmember, means urging said last mentioned member toward its initialposition when released, and means controlled by a fuel measuring deviceon the vehicle including a. cam-'operated tripping means and a clutchcontrolled operating means therefor to release said last mentionedmember to permit it to position said indivehicle and the fuel used foreating means and then to release said first mentioned member.

1l. An indicating device for showing the relation between the distancetraveleddiy a i driving said vehicle having in combination, a ratchetmember moved in direct proportion to the distance the'vehicle travels, asecond ratchet member adapted to be lpositioned by said first mentionedratchet member, an indicator controlled by said last mentioned ratchetmember, vmeans for holding said ratchet members in the position to whichthey have been moved, means operating at intervals for releasing saidholding means, and means controlled by a fuel measuring Idevice on thevehicle including a cam-operated member and a clutch for controlling thesame for operating said last mentioned means.

5. An indicating device for showing the relation between the distancetraveled by a vehicle and the fuel used for driving said vehicle havingin combination, a shaft ydriven proportionately to the travel of saidvehicle, a piston moved intermittently in relation to the fuel supplied,a sleeve on said shaft, a tripping means on said sleeve, a rotatablemember operated for intermittent movement from said shaft, means forretracting said member when tripped by said tripping means, a clutch forconnecting said sleeve to said shaft, a stop operated by said piston forpermittin sai-d clutch to become engaged, and an' in icating meansconnected to said r0- tatable member.

6. An indicatin device for showing the relation between/51e distancetraveled by a vehicle and the fuel used fordriving said vehicle havingin combination, means driven in direct proportion to the distance saidvehicle travels, a member intermittently rotated by said means, meansfor retracting said member when tripped, a tripping means for saidmember, an indicating means positioned by said member, an actuatingmeans for said tripping means, means including an intermittently engagedclutch for o erating said actuating means, and a memer intermittentlymoved in relation to the fuel used for permitting engagement of saidclutch.

7. A device for showing the relation between the distance traveled by avehicle consuming fuel for motive power and the amount of fuel used,having in combination, a rotatable means operated in a directproportionv to the distance the vehicle travels, an indicating meansco-operating therewith, a reciprocating member controlled by a fuelmeasuring device for controlling said indicating means, a connectingmeans for connecting said indicating means and first mentioned meansincluding a` spring controlled pawl and ratchet mechanism, a trippingmeans cooperating With said connecting means and a clutch actuated fromsaid first mentioned means for controlling said tripping means.

In testimony whereof I afx .my signature. CARL d. GARDEEN.

